HardwareNews

FLASH #158

Featured in this issue:

• Big box update: Bunnings in Port Augusta (SA), Bedford Park (SA) and Emerald (QLD)
• Retail update: Mooloolah Mitre 10, rural supplies store and PetO in WA
• Big box update: Bunnings Horsham and six stores sold
• USA update: Lowe's acquisition and pro market
• UK update: B&Q stocks tile brand known in independents
• Bunnings FY2025 forecast market growth
• Metcash: Goodbye IHG, Hello TTHG

Betty Tanddo

HardwareNews Publisher

Sponsored by:

Big box update

The new Bunnings store in Port Augusta, a coastal city in South Australia, has officially opened. A Labor MP and local residents have voiced their opposition to a proposed Bunnings in Bedford Park (SA), saying it would lead to traffic problems and the land should instead be used for housing. The planned Bunnings store in Emerald (QLD) has an approximate budget of between $30 million to $50 million.

Retail update

Mooloolah Mitre 10, located on the Sunshine Coast (QLD), has celebrated its grand opening under its new owners Nick and Isaac Duggan. A planning proposal for a rural supplies store at Palmers Island - a small locality on the Clarence River in north-eastern NSW - will be submitted for approval after it was unanimously endorsed by councillors. WA is a key expansion State for the PetO pet brand.

Big box update: Property

The Bunnings Warehouse in Horsham (VIC) has been placed on the market by Jones Real Estate and Stonebridge Property Group. In 2017, the store had a $1 million expansion. The Bunnings stores in the portfolio sold to Charter Hall include Alexandria, Mittagong and Goulburn, all in NSW, and Airlie Beach and Oxenford, both in Queensland, as well as a property in Thomastown (VIC).

USA update

Lowe's said it agreed to buy Foundation Building Materials (FMB), a North American distributor of interior building products, from private-equity firms American Securities and Clayton Dubilier & Rice. It is a deal set to strengthen the home improvement retailer's offerings to professional customers. California-based FBM distributes drywall (plasterboard), metal framing, ceiling systems, commercial doors and hardware, insulation and other products.

UK update: B&Q

Independent retailers in the UK have reacted to the announcement of tile company Ca' Pietra's new retail partnership with B&Q, which sees an exclusive range sold through the national retailer that has several big box stores. The partnership recently launched a capsule collection called Portare for B&Q, a "curated edit" of the brand's tiles developed exclusively for B&Q and tailored to the home improvement retailer's customers.

Bunnings FY2025 forecast market growth

Forecasting revenues for Bunnings NZ to derive Australia-only revenue, it would seem that Bunnings has made further gains in its Australian market share. Bunnings' strongest market share gains were made after Masters Home Improvement collapsed, and again in FY2020, for the initial year of the COVID pandemic.

Goodbye IHG, Hello TTHG

One effect Metcash CEO Doug Jones has had on the company is to make its annual report actually interesting to read. It highlights some issues affecting the company's hardware operations that it is easy to miss - such as that all its stores are going to subject to the Sapphire upgrade.

For advertisers, to download the HNN Media Kit go to:
HNN Media Kit FY2023